US2120098A - Truck wheel - Google Patents

Description

June 7, 193a. c. J. HUG 2,120,098

TRUCK WHEEL Filed Ndv. 19, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Figi E-T- FIG.

INVENTOR i CHIP/SWAN JHuG ATTORNEY June 7, 1938. Q J HUG 2,120,098

TRUCK WHEEL Filed Nov. 19, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 EIGZ.

INVENTOR CHRIST/AN J. HUG

j BY y/(k rfomvsv Patented June 7, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2Glaims.

My invention has relation to improvements in vehicle wheels and it consists in the novel features of construction more fully set forth in the specifications and pointed out in the claims. The invention is primarily directed to wheels embodying the combination of both a pneumatic tire and a steel wheel section, the former being adapted to support the vehicle on the road and the latter being adapted to support the vehicle on rails. I am aware of the fact that the broad principle of combining a pneumatic wheel with a. track wheel is not new, but such combination wheels, as far as I am aware, utilized the standard type of railway car wheel which imports into the combination certain serious disadvantages.

I have sought to overcome these disadvantages by utilizing for the railway car wheel entering into the combination a flangeless wheel having a concave tread. The advantage of eliminating the flange is that the truck may be more easily driven on and off the rails and the advantage of the concavity of the tread is that it assists the operator in steering the vehicle and holding the same on the rails.

These advantages, together with others inherent in the invention, will be better apparent from a detailed description thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a truck equipped with wheels of my invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan of a fragment of the forward portion of the truck showing one of the front wheels in plan view.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section taken through my improved combination wheel; and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on a plane indicated by the line -4 in Fig. 3 and showing an inside elevational view of my improved wheel.

Referring to the drawings, T represents a truck adapted for heavy duty, including its use for drawing railway cars along the railroad track comprising the rails R, R. The truck is equipped with a coupling C whereby it may be connected to a railway car, which is not shown in the drawings. In the present instance, the truck is of the 4-wheel drive and 4-wheel steer type, the front wheels W being driven by a propeller shaft I and the rear wheels W by a propeller shaft 2 and both front and rear wheels being steered from a single steering wheel 3. The steering wheel'3, as is well known in the art, operates a pitman arm 4 to which is connected a front drag rod 5 and rear drag rod 6 leading to front steering knuckle i and rear steering knuckle 8.

The parts thus far described are well known in the art and no invention is claimed therein. Furthermore, it is immaterial, as far as the present invention is concerned, whether or not the truck T is of the 4-wheel drive and steer type. However, it has been found in practise that trucks intended for use both on and off the rails of a railroadtrack are better adapted to perform their functions if they are of the 4-wheel steer type.

As stated above, the invention is primarily directed to the construction of an improved wheel and the balance of the description to be confined thereto. Referring to Fig. 3, 9 represents the axle housing, the outer end of which terminates in a ring In to receive roller bearings H on which is pivotally supported the housing extension i 2 carrying the terminal portion of the axle l3 supporting bearings and IS on which wheel hub i6 is mounted. Within axle housing 9 is a drive shaft ll terminating in a splined extremity l8 and embodying a universal joint I! located on the pivotal center of the housing extension l2. The splined portion l8 of the shaft iI engages with an inside extension on the hub cap 20 and the hub cap is bolted or otherwise secured to the wheel hub i6 so that the rotation of the shaft I1 is imparted to the wheel W through said hub l6 and wheel spoke disc 22.

The parts thus far described are all old in the art and do not enter into the invention except in so far as they relate directly to the construction of the wheel itself.

The wheel spoke disc 22 carries the usual felloe 23 in which is mounted a pneumatic tire casing 2. Obviously, an inner tube 25 is dispossed within the casing 24. The hub I6 is provided with an annular flange 2| to which the spoke disc 22 is bolted by means of bolts 26. The wheel hub l6 also supports a steel flange track wheel 21 inside of the pneumatic tire casing 24.

The wheel 21 comprises a rim 28 having a concave tread surface 29 and a vertical wall portion 30 extending inwardly from the rim 28, from which wallportion there is a conical portion 3| extending inside of the felloe 23 and terminating in a flange 32 secured to hub flange 2| between said flange and the spoke disc 22 by means of the bolts 26. There are a plurality of triangular ribs 33 extending entirely around the inside of the rim 28 for the purpose of stiffening the same. A ring plate 34 is disposed over the cone 3| and held in contacting relation with the wall 30 by means of four equally spaced springs 35 bolted or otherwise secured at their inner ends to said cone 3|. The peripheral edge of the ring plate 34 'is provided with a bead 34' and the inner edge 01' 86 which normally rests on the cone ll. However, it will be 0 d that the opening in the ring plate 34 is sligh 13! larger than the diameter of the cone 3| comprising the hub of track wheel 21, so that when the ring plate 34 rests on the top of said hub 3|, the bottom of its peripheral edge will extend below the tread 28 of track wheel 21. The function of ring plateflkis to serve as a shield to protect the inside of the casing 24 from rubbing against the bottom inside edge of rim 28 when'the casing is compressed under loads and jolts while in use. The ring plate 34 also protects the casing againstcontact with the rim 28 when the wheel is being driven oi! a railroad track, as at such times the casing-must I necessarily pass over said track.

7 The clearance a between the opening in the ring plate 34 and hub 3| permits said ring plate to move upwardly as it contacts with the rail R while driving the track wheel 21 oil of said rail so that said plate may move over the rail without being damaged.

A brake drum 3! is fixed to the hub flange 2| by the same bolts 26 that secure the pneumatic component and steel component of the wheel W thereto. The brake drum comprises a cylindrical a,12o,ooa said ring plate' is provided with a small flange portion 38, a conical portion I! and a flange 40 which receives said bolts 26.

The absence of flanges on the tread 29 of wheel 21 greatly facilitates the driving of said wheels on and ofl the rails R and the concavity-of the tread 29 tends to'hold said wheels on the rail and assist the operator of the vehicle in steering the same while it is travelling over the rails Rt Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A vehicle wheel having a hub, a pneumatic wheel componentvand a. steel track wheelcomponent carried by said hub in juxtaposed relation, said track wheel component having a flangeless concave tread, and a ring plate movably carried by the track wheel component between said component ponent. 2. A vehicle wheel having a hub, a pneumatic wheel component and a steel track wheel component carried by said hub in juxtaposed relation, a ring plate mounted for vertical movement between the pneumatic wheel and the track wheel, said track wheel component having a flangeless concave tread, and spring means bearing against said ring plate to hold the same yieldingly against the steel track wheel.

CHRISTIAN J. HUG.

and the pneumatic com-

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